- This event has passed.
Vegetarian Chinese Food & A Movie Night
December 24, 2023 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
A film by Lesley Shampaine & Pip Gilmour
“Astonishing…it’s the classic underdog story…touching…lustrous imagery”
Deadline
“Dance is an art form, and this movie is simply pure art!”
Yoni Avital, Intl Director, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company
Manish is captivated by ballet’s athleticism but doesn’t tell his struggling parents that he has dropped out of school and used their savings to pay for dance classes.
70-year-old Israeli American Yehuda Ma’or arrives in Mumbai to teach ballet at an inner-city dance school after losing his last teaching position. He once had a renowned career as Israel’s top dancer at the Bat Dor Dance Company and had been a teacher to ballet’s greatest stars, like Rudolf Nureyev and Natalia Makarova. When he discovers Manish, he feels like he’s won the lottery. Yehuda believes Manish has the right stuff to dance professionally. His dedicated student renews Yehuda’s excitement in teaching. Yehuda trains Manish hard: prodding, cajoling, and encouraging him through 4 classes a day. But competition in the dance world is incredibly daunting. Only 3% of dance students are invited to join professional companies.
Call Me Dancer is a story of hope, heartache, and hard work. Together, Manish and Yehuda transform each other’s lives, searching to uncover who and what they are. Yehuda seeks a purpose and a place to call home. Manish dreams of dancing on the world-stage but struggles to break free from the confines of his own economic and social circumstances.